Physics Commons^™

The Trouble Of Energy: Theoretical Foundations Of Loop Quantum Gravity, Hallie Gift

Senior Honors Theses

While general relativity and quantum mechanics have proved to be successful theories with elegant explanations of special cases, an underlying theory is needed to harmonize their copious discrepancies. Popular theories to reconcile the two are broadly termed “quantum gravity,” which refers to theories that introduce a discretized component of gravity either by directly suggesting gravitational quanta or attempting to discretize spacetime geometry. Loop quantum gravity falls under the latter category; it respects the background independence intrinsic to general relativity while attempting to provide an explanation of underlying quantum behavior via Planck-scale-level geometrical discretization. This thesis aims to provide a primer …

What Do Black Holes Teach Us About Wigner’S Friend?, Emily Adlam

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Recently, Hausmann and Renner have pointed out that several famous paradoxes relating to black holes have a similar character to various Extended Wigner’s Friend paradoxes. In this paper I consider what the connection between these things could teach us about the Wigner’s Friend scenarios. I argue that if we take the analogy between these cases seriously, the black hole paradoxes appear to favour a certain class of response to the Wigner’s Friend scenario - specifically, those which posit intrinsic relationality, rather than effective and emergent relationality, and also those which posit some kind of retrocausality.

Multiple-Valued Quantum Automata For Robotics, Yuchen Huang

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation introduces a new type of quantum automata, their encoding and circuit realization. I concentrate on possible applications in robotics. Several methods and application of quantum automata and quantum circuit-based controllers for elementary robotic systems, with a focus on humanoid robot motion, emotion, and behavior generation are illustrated in detail. The research introduces several novel methodologies that bridge quantum computing principles with robotic control, aiming to overcome the limitations of classical deterministic and probabilistic approaches.

The dissertation first presents a quantum-circuit-based framework for generating non-repetitive and expressive (e)motions in a humanoid robot actor, using superposition and entanglement to produce …

Revisiting Quantum Foundations: Deriving The Klein-Gordon-Fock Equation Without Axiomatic Postulates*, Joshua Lohr, Vola Andrianarijaona, Anton A. Lipovka

Campus Research Month

This paper presents a derivation of the Klein-Gordon-Fock equation from first principles. The proposed method eliminates the need to axiomatically postulate wave functions or equation coefficients. Instead, the derivation is performed on an adiabatically variable manifold, locally described by the Friedman-Robertson-Walker metric, incorporating complete electrodynamics. In this framework, the transverse electromagnetic field quantizes due to adiabatic changes in the metric tensor, with Planck's constant serving as its adiabatic invariant. Consequently, wave functions naturally emerge as eigenfunctions of a Sturm-Liouville problem used to expand the electromagnetic field.

Calculating Potential Energy Curves Of Molecular Hydrogen And Its Ion Using Psi4 For Blinc Fusion Applications*, Angelina Castillo, Oscar Coral, Canaan Hercules, Blake Laing, Vola Andrianarijaona

Campus Research Month

Southern Adventist University’s Beamline for Ionic and Neutral Collisions (BLINC) is investigating the interactions between hydrogen molecules and fusion particles. To perform in-house theoretical calculations, the BLINC Theory and Analysis Group is testing Psi4 as a viable computational method for BLINC fusion research. Successful calculations of the potential energy curves and dissociation energies of H₂ and H₂⁺ have been completed and compared to known values. Preliminary results align with known values, demonstrating Psi4’s potential for BLINC research. Future work will focus on the vibrational energies, wavefunctions, and transition probabilities of H₂ and H₂⁺.

Describing The Wave Function Collapse Process With A State-Dependent Hamiltonian, Le Hu, Andrew N. Jordan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Quantum mechanics admits two distinct evolutions: deterministic unitary dynamics governed by the Schrödinger equation and the probabilistic collapse of the wave function. We show that the continuous collapse of a quantum state under measurement can, on a trajectory-by-trajectory basis, be equivalently described as unitary evolution generated by a time- and state-dependent Hermitian Hamiltonian with stochastic parameters. While the ensemble dynamics remains non-unitary, each individual trajectory thus admits a unitary representation. We derive explicit forms of such Hamiltonians for projective measurements on arbitrary n-level systems and for continuous position measurements of a harmonic oscillator, and we propose experimental schemes to …

Non-Redundant Rovibrational Hamiltonians By Molien Generating Functions And Gröbner-Basis Reduction, Leandro Ajo

University Libraries Undergraduate Research Award

High-resolution molecular spectroscopy requires an effective Hamiltonian whose operator content is both complete, containing every term allowed by molecular symmetry and nonredundant, free of any algebraically dependent operators that would cause ill-conditioned parameter fits. Traditional derivations based on Van Vleck contact transformations satisfy neither criterion automatically. This paper develops a rigorous, algorithmic pipeline that guarantees both properties simultaneously. Starting from the permutation– inversion (PI) group GPI of a molecule (Longuet-Higgins, 1963), we apply Molien’s theorem (Molien, 1897) to the symplectic normal-coordinate representation to obtain the vibrational generating function Φvib(t); integrate over the Haar measure of SO(3) (Weyl, 1946) to obtain …

Dynamics Of Localized Wave Packets In Quantum Mechanics, Ayla Zook, Keigo L. Fujita, Rufus Boyack Phd

Wetterhahn Science Symposium Posters

Quantum wave packets are localized, time-dependent solutions of the Schrödinger equation that mimic classical particle motion. In his 1926 paper, Schrödinger famously showed that displacing the ground state of the harmonic oscillator produces a wave packet whose probability density maintains its shape and saturates the Heisenberg uncertainty bound. Motivated by this result, we construct and analyze wave-packet solutions for the Airy potential, the simple harmonic oscillator (SHO), and the pseudoharmonic oscillator (PHO). Our general approach is to find expansion coefficients and take a superposition of the energy eigenstates of the time-independent Schrödinger equation. We examine spatially displaced eigenstates alongside alternative …

Optimization Of Niobium Film For Particle Accelerators And Quantum Applications, Bektur Abdisatarov

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Niobium (Nb) films play a central role in superconducting technologies used in particle accelerators and superconducting quantum circuits. Optimizing the physical properties of Nb films is therefore critical for improving both radiofrequency (RF) performance in superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities and coherence in superconducting qubits. This thesis investigates the relationship between Nb film microstructure, impurity content, and electromagnetic response across these two application domains.

For particle accelerator applications, we studied Nb films deposited using high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) with DC bias onto a 1.3 GHz elliptical SRF cavity. Nb film cavities exhibit a pronounced medium-field Q-slope, limiting their achievable accelerating …

Quantum Indiscernibility And Perspectivalism, Emily Adlam

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

It has often been suggested that similar quantum particles may be a counterexample to the principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles. In this article, I discuss the status of indiscernibility in a perspectival approach to quantum mechanics. I argue that adopting an internal physical perspective can have the effect of making entities discernible even if they are not discernible relative to external reference frames, and thus perspectivalism offers a new way to understand the physical meaning of weak discernibility. I discuss whether this approach is circular, and I consider whether the reference frames involved are physically meaningful. I conclude that …

Quantum Superpositions Of Conscious States In A Minimal Integrated Information Model, Kelvin J. Mcqueen, Ian T. Durham, Markus P. Müller

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

Could there be quantum superpositions of conscious states, as suggested by the Wigner’s friend thought experiment? Mathematical theories of consciousness, notably integrated information theory (IIT), make this question more precise by associating physical systems with both quantitative amounts of consciousness and structural characterizations of conscious states. Motivated by a recent proposal that ties wave-function collapse to integrated information, we construct a simple quantum circuit that would, on that proposal, place a minimal system—a feedback dyad—into a superposition of states that differ in their associated conscious states. This “Schrödinger’s dyad” provides a controlled setting for evaluating a central desideratum of consciousness-based …

Extending The Geometric Phase To Relativistic Spacetime, Sajid Raihan Akash

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Berry phase [3] is traditionally understood as a geometric phase acquired during cyclic adiabatic evolution, often interpreted as the flux of an effective “magnetic field” through a solid angle in parameter space. In this thesis, we investigate situations in which a geometric phase arises even when no spatial solid angle is enclosed, revealing the limitations of the standard purely spatial interpretation. We first review the Berry phase for a spin-½ particle in a slowly varying magnetic field and analyze scenarios in which the system’s eigenstate is changed during the adiabatic evolution. We show that the resulting phase can be …

Cdj-Pontryagin Optimal Control For General Continuously Monitored Quantum Systems, Tathagata Karmakar, Andrew N. Jordan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The Chantasri-Dressel-Jordan (CDJ) stochastic path integral formalism (Chantasri et al. 2013 and 2015) characterizes the statistics of the readouts and the most likely conditional evolution of continuously monitored quantum systems involving a few qubits or quantum harmonic oscillators in Gaussian states. In our work, we generalize the CDJ formalism to arbitrary continuously monitored systems by introducing a costate operator. We then prescribe a generalized Pontryagin's maximum principle for quantum systems undergoing arbitrary evolution and find conditions on optimal control protocols. We show that the CDJ formalism's most likely path can be cast as a quantum Pontryagin's maximum principle, where the …

Making The Virtual Real: Measurement-Powered Tunneling Engines, Rafael Sánchez, Alok Nath Singh, Andrew N. Jordan, Bibek Bhandari

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Quantum tunneling allows electrons to be transferred between two regions separated by an energetically forbidden barrier. Performing a position measurement that finds a particle in the barrier forces the tunneling electrons to transition from having a classically forbidden energy to an energy above the barrier height. We exploit this effect to define quantum tunneling engines that can use the unconditioned detection of virtually occupied states as a resource for power generation and cooling. Leveraging energy exchange with the detector, we show that the device can operate in a hybrid regime, enabling simultaneous cooling and power generation. Furthermore, we demonstrate measurement-assisted …

Charge Acceleration Without Radiation, Yakir Aharonov, D. Collins, S. Popescu

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The existence of electromagnetic radiation—radio waves, microwaves, light, X-rays, and so on—is one of the most important physical phenomena, and our ability to manipulate them is one of the most significant technological achievement of humankind. Underlying this ability is our understanding of how radiation is produced: Whenever an electric charge is accelerated, it radiates. Or, at least, this is how it has been hitherto universally thought. Here, we prove that quantum mechanically electric charges can be accelerated without radiating. The physical setup leading to this behavior is relatively simple (once one knows what to do), but its reasons are deep: …

Quantum Benchmarking Of High-Fidelity Noise-Biased Operations On A Detuned Kerr-Cat Qubit, Bingcheng Qing, Ahmed Hajr, Ke Wang, Gerwin Koolstra, Long B. Nguyen, Jordan Hines, Irwin Huang, Bibek Bhandari, Larry Chen, Ziqi Kang, Christian Jünger, Noah Goss, Nikitha Jain, Hyunseong Kim, Kan-Heng Lee, Akel Hashim, Nicholas E. Frattini, Zahra Pedramrazi, Justin Dressel, Andrew N. Jordan, David I. Santiago, Irfan Siddiqi

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Ubiquitous noise sources in quantum systems remain a key obstacle to building quantum computers, necessitating the use of quantum error correction codes. Recently, error-correcting codes tailored for noise-biased systems have been shown to offer high fault-tolerance thresholds and reduced hardware overhead, positioning noisebiased qubits as promising candidates for building universal quantum computers. However, quantum operations on these platforms remain challenging, and their noise structures have not yet been rigorously benchmarked to the same extent as those of conventional quantum hardware. In this work, we develop a comprehensive quantum control toolbox for a scalable noise-biased qubit, detuned Kerr-cat qubit, including initialization, …

Revealing The Fuel Of A Quantum Continuous Measurement-Based Refrigerator, Cyril Elouard, Sreenath K. Manikandan, Andrew N. Jordan, Géraldine Haack

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

While quantum measurements have been shown to constitute a resource for operating quantum thermal machines, the nature of the energy exchanges involved in the interaction between system and measuring apparatus is still under debate. In this work, we show that a microscopic model of the apparatus is necessary to unambiguously determine whether quantum measurements provide energy in the form of heat or work. We illustrate this result by considering a measurement-based refrigerator, made of a double quantum dot embedded in a two-terminal device, with the charge of one of the dots being continuously monitored. Tuning the parameters of the measurement …

What Kind Of Relationality Does Quantum Mechanics Exhibit?, Emily Adlam

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

In this article I elaborate on the approach to relational quantum mechanics suggested by Adlam and Rovelli (2023). I suggest that this approach fills an important gap in the spectrum of relational approaches, because it posits that the relational aspects of quantum mechanics are both inherent and dynamical. I compare this approach to Orthodox RQM, arguing that it has a number of advantages, and I show how some possible objections can be resolved.

Simulation Of Quantum Walks For Secure Data Access Patterns, Arslan Ahmad Janjua

Theses and Dissertations

Quantum computing is revolutionizing computational science, offering fundamentally new approaches to information processing that surpass classical limitations. One of the most versatile and powerful tools in this emerging field is quantum walks. Quantum walks are quantum analogs of classical random walks that leverage superposition and interference to explore complex spaces efficiently.

This thesis will explore how discrete-time scattering quantum walks can be simulated and analyzed to investigate patterns of secure data access. By modeling quantum walks on a variety of graph structures and studying the dynamics of marked vertices, the project aims to demonstrate how quantum interference and graph topology …

Quantum Mechanics As A Framework For Data Assimilation And Its Application To Atmospheric Parameterization, David Freeman

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Quantum mechanics, as a mathematical system, can be understood as a generalization of classical probability theory. Quantum Mechanical Data Assimilation (QMDA) is a method in which classical dynamical systems are embedded into a quantum mechanical setting, with an associated data assimilation scheme leveraging the operator algebraic setting. In this dissertation, the algebraic structure underlying the operator theoretic formulation of QMDA is discussed. A procedure for closure of dynamical systems based on QMDA, known as Quantum Mechanical Closure (QMCl), is then constructed, and the procedures for constructing the quantum embeddings and implementing QMCl in practice are laid out and implemented for …

Reply To "Comment On "Qcd Factorization With Multihadron Fragmentation Functions"", T. C. Rogers, T. Rainaldi, M. Radici, A. Courtoy

Physics Faculty Publications

We respond to comments [D. Pitonyak, C. Cocuzza, A. Metz, A. Prokudin, and N. Sato, preceding Comment, Phys. Rev. D 113, 038901 (2026)] about our article, [Phys. Rev. D 111, 056001 (2025)]. We stand by our conclusions and defend them against the criticisms.

Backward-Angle Electroproduction Of Η′ Mesons Off Protons At W = 2.13 Gev And Q² = 0.46 (Gev/C)², T. Akiyama, P. Bydžovský, T. Gogami, K. Itabashi, S. Nagao, S. N. Nakamura, K. Okuyama, B. Pandey, D. Skoupil, K. N. Suzuki, L. Tang, D. Abrams, D. Androic, K. Aniol, C. Ayerbe Gayoso, J. Bane, S. Barcus, J. Barrow, V. Bellini, H. Bhatt, D. Bhetuwal, D. Biswas, A. Camsonne, J. Castellanos, J. -P. Chen, J. Chen, S. Covrig, D. Chrisman, R. Cruz-Torres, R. Das, E. Fuchey, K. Gnanvo, F. Garibaldi, T. Gautam, J. Gomez, P. Gueye, T. J. Hague, O Hansen, W. Henry, F. Hauenstein, D. W. Higinbotham, C. E. Hyde, M. Kaneta, C. Keppel, T. Kutz, N. Lashley-Colthirst, S. Li, H. Liu, J. Mammei, P. Markowitz, R. E. Mcclellan, F. Meddi, D. Meekins, R. Michaels, M. Mihovilovič, A. Moyer, D. Nguyen, M. Nycz, V. Owen, C. Palatchi, S. Park, T. Petkovic, S. Premathilake, P. E. Reimer, J. Reinhold, S. Riordan, V. Rodriguez, C. Samanta, S. N. Santiesteban, B. Sawatzky, S. Širca, K. Slifer, T. Su, Y. Tian, Y. Toyama, D. Trnková, K. Uehara, G. M. Urciuoli, D. Votaw, J. Williamson, B. Wojtsekhowski, S. A. Wood, B. Yale, Z. Ye, J. Zhang, X. Zheng

Physics Faculty Publications

The electroproduction of η′ mesons from a ¹H target at W = 2.13GeV, Q² = 0.46(GeV/c)² and cos θ^CM_𝛾*η ≈ -1 has been experimentally measured. The differential cross section of virtual-photoproduction has been obtained as 4.4 ± 0.8(stat.) ± 0.4(sys.)nb/sr in the One-Photon-Exchange Approximation. This value is one-sixth of that of real-photoproduction at backward angles. A comparison with newly-developed isobar model calculations not only shows validity of the theoretical framewark employed, but also imposes new constraints on coupling strength between the η′p final state and nucleon resonances.

Poincaré Invariance And The Unruh Effect, Alexandre Deur, Stanley J. Brodsky, Craig D. Roberts, Balša Terzić

Physics Faculty Publications

In quantum field theory, the vacuum is popularly considered to be a complex medium populated with virtual particle + antiparticle pairs. To an observer experiencing uniform acceleration, it is generally held that these virtual particles become real, appearing as a gas at a temperature that grows with the acceleration. This is the Unruh effect. However, it has been shown that vacuum complexity is an artifact produced by treating quantum field theory in a manner that does not manifestly enforce causality. Choosing a quantization approach that patently enforces causality, the quantum field theory vacuum is barren, bereft even of virtual particles. …

Dispersion Relations And The Light-Hadron Spectrum, Arkaitz Rodas

Physics Faculty Publications

Light hadron spectroscopy sits in the non-perturbative regime of QCD, where flexible fits often compete with firm principles. Over the past two decades, dispersion relations have become a practical, numerical tool to solve these issues, enabling first-principles analyses and delivering robust resonance parameters. With ππ scattering as an example, we briefly summarize the current landscape, highlight dispersive work that has resolved long-standing debates and set precision standards, and include recent examples of dispersive analyses of lattice QCD results.

Optical Nonlinearity Of A Cold Atomic Ensemble Driven By A Strong Coherent Field In A Saturation Regime, A. S. Usoltsev, L. V. Gerasimov, A. D. Manukhova, S. P. Kulik, D. V. Kupriyanov

Physics Faculty Publications

We present a microscopic analysis and evaluation of the dielectric susceptibility of a dielectric medium consisting of vector-type two-energy-level atoms, responding to a weak probe mode, when the atoms are driven by a strong coherent field. Each atom, in an environment of others, exists as a quasiparticle, further structuring the bulk medium. In a limit of dilute atomic gas, the dynamics of each atom follows the Mollow-type nonlinear excitation regime, and the medium susceptibility collectivizes the individual atomic responses to the probe mode. We outline how the collective dynamics can be interpolated up to a dense medium, and we argue …

Longitudinal Spin Transfer To Λ Hyperons In Semi-Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering With The Clas12 Spectrometer, M. Mceneaney, A. Vossen, A. Acar, P. Achenbach, J. S. Alvarado, M. Amaryan, W. R. Armstrong, H. Atac, N. A. Baltzell, L. Barion, M. Bashkanov, M. Battaglieri, F. Benmokhtar, A. Bianconi, A. S. Biselli, M. Bondi, F. Bossù, S. Boiarinov, K. -Th. Brinkmann, W. J. Briscoe, V. D. Burkert, T. Cao, R. Capobianco, D. S. Carman, J. C. Carvajal, A. Celentano, P. Chatagnon, V. Chesnokov, H. Chinchay, G. Ciullo, P. L. Cole, M. Contalbrigo, A. D'Angelo, N. Dashyan, R. De Vita, M. Defurne, S. Diehl, C. Dilks, C. Djalali, R. Dupre, H. Egiyan, M. Ehrhart, A. El Alaoui, L. El Fassi, M. Farooq, S. Fegan, R. E. Ferguson, I. P. Fernando, A. Filippi, C. Fogler, K. Gates, G. Gavalian, D. I. Glazier, R. W. Gothe, Y. Gotra, B. Gualtieri, K. Hafidi, H. Hakobyan, M. Hattawy, T. B. Hayward, D. Heddle, A. Hobart, M. Holtrop, Y. Ilieva, D. G. Ireland, H. S. Jo, S. Joosten, T. Kageya, A. Kim, V. Klimenko, A. Kripko, V. Kubarovsky, L. Lanza, S. Lee, P. Lenisa, D. Marchand, V. Mascagna, D. Matamoros, B. Mckinnon, T. Mineeva, M. Mirazita, V. Mokeev, C. Munoz Camacho, P. Nadel-Turonski, T. Nagorna, K. Neupane, S. Niccolai, G. Niculescu, M. Osipenko, M. Ouillon, P. Pandey, M. Paolone, L. L. Pappalardo, R. Paremuzyan, E. Pasyuk, S. J. Paul, W. Phelps, N. Pilleux, S. Polcher Rafael, L. Polizzi, J. Poudel, Y. Prok, A. Radic, T. Reed, J. Richards, M. Ripani, P. Rossi, A. A. Rusova, C. Salgado, S. Schadmand, A. Schmidt, M. B. C. Scott, E. V. Shirokov, S. Shresstha, E. Sidoretti, D. Sokhan, N. Sparveris, M. Spreafico, I. Strakovsky, S. Strauch, J. A. Tan, R. Tyson, M. Ungaro, P. S. H. Vaishnavi, S. Vallarino, C. Velasquez, L. Venturelli, H. Voskanyan, E. Voutier, D. P. Watts, Y. Wang, U. Weerasinghe, X. Wei, N. Wickramaarachchi, M. H. Wood, L. Xu, Z. Xu, N. Zachariou, Z. W. Zhao, V. Ziegler, M. Zurek

Physics Faculty Publications

The polarization of Λ hyperons is preserved in the angular distribution of their decay products. This property allows one to study the spin structure of the Λ. In semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering where a high energy lepton interacts with a nucleon target and one or more hadrons and the scattered lepton are detected in the final state, the probability for a struck quark to impart the polarization of the lepton to the Λ may be measured. In particular, in electron-proton scattering this quantity may be related to the longitudinal light quark polarization of the Λ. Currently, limited experimental data cannot …

First Measurement Of Polarized Spin-Density Matrix Elements And Differential Cross Sections Dσ/Dt In Ω Photoproduction Off The Proton For 2.7 < E𝛾 < 5.2 Gev Using Clas At Jefferson Lab, T. Hu, Z. Akbar, V. Crede, J. M. Laget, V. Mathieu, M. J. Amaryan, W. R. Armstrong, H. Atac, N. A. Baltzell, L. Barion, M. Battaglieri, I. Bedlinskiy, B. Benkel, F. Benmokhtar, A. Bianconi, L. Biondo, A. Biselli, M. Bondi, F. Bossu, S. Boiarinov, W. J. Briscoe, S. Bueltmann, D. Bulumulla, V. D. Burkert, R. Capobianco, D. S. Carman, J. C. Carvajal, A. Celentano, T. Chetry, G. Ciullo, G. Clash, P. L. Cole, M. Contalbrigo, G. Costantini, A. D'Angelo, N. Dashyan, R. De Vita, M. Defurne, A. Deur, S. Diehl, C. Djalali, R. Dupre, H. Egiyan, A. El Alaoui, L. El Fassi, L. Elouadrhiri, P. Eugenio, S. Fegan, A. Filippi, G. Gavalian, Y. Ghandilyan, G. P. Gilfoyle, F. X. Girod, A. A. Golubenko, G. Gosta, R. W. Gothe, K. A. Griffioen, M. Guidal, K. Hafidi, H. Hakobyan, M. Hattawy, T. B. Hayward, D. Heddle, A. Hobart, M. Holtrop, Y. Ilieva, D. G. Ireland, E. L. Isupov, D. Jenkins, H. S. Jo, K. Joo, S. Joosten, D. Keller, A. Khanal, M. Khandaker, A. Kim, W. Kim, F. J. Klein, V. Klimenko, A. Kripko, V. Kubarovsky, V. Lagerquist, L. Lanza, M. Leali, P. Lenisa, K. Livingston, I.J.D. Macgregor, D. Marchand, L. Marsicano, V. Mascagna, M. E. Mccracken, B. Mckinnon, Z. E. Meziani, S. Migliorati, R. G. Milner, T. Mineeva, M. Mirazita, V. Mokeev, C. Munoz Camacho, P. Nadel-Turonski, K. Neupane, J. Newton, S. Niccoai, M. Nicol, G. Niculescu, M. Osipenko, A. I. Ostrovidov, P. Pandey, M. Paolone, L. L. Pappalardo, R. Paremuzyan, E. Pasyuk, S. J. Paul, W. Phelps, N. Pilleux, O. Pogorelko, J. W. Price, Y. Prok, B. A. Raue, T. Reed, M. Ripani, J. Ritman, A. Rizzo, G. Rosner, F. Sabatié, C. Salgado, S. Schadmand, A. Schmidt, R. A. Schumacher, E. V. Shirokov, U. Shrestha, P. Simmerling, D. Sokhan, N. Sparveris, S. Stepanyan, I. I. Strakovsky, S. Strauch, R. Tyson, M. Ungaro, L. Venturelli, H. Voskanyan, A. Vossen, E. Voutier, D. P. Watts, X. Wei, M. H. Wood, B. Yale, M. Yurov, N. Zachariou, J. Zhang, The Clas Collaboration At Jefferson Laboratory

Physics Faculty Publications

We report on the differential cross sections dσ/dt, the unpolarized spin-density matrix elements ρ⁰₀₀, ρ⁰₁₋₁, Re ρ⁰₁₀, and the first extraction of the polarized elements Im ρ³₁₀, Im ρ³₁₋₁ for the reaction γp → pω using the CLAS spectrometer at Jefferson Laboratory. The ω mesons were detected in their dominant charged decay mode, ω→π+π−π⁰, and all t-dependent results are presented in a fine binning for incident photon energies between 2.73 and 5.16 GeV (corresponding to the center-of-mass energy range W ∈ [ 2.45, 3.25 ] GeV). All matrix elements are first measurements for −t>0.6 GeV². …

Basis Design For Electronic Structure And Beyond, Weishi Wang

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

At the intersection of quantum physics, quantum chemistry, and materials science, electronic structure is the study of electrons in solid-state and molecular systems. Electronic-structure computation relies on discretizing the many-electron Hamiltonian with a finite single-particle basis set. However, basis-set construction is conventionally treated as an ad hoc preprocessing step. This thesis develops an expressive and flexible framework for active, system-oriented basis-set design and numerical modeling strategies that treat basis functions as tunable representations to encode electronic ground-state information.

We first introduce a multi-layered, differentiable basis-construction framework that embeds a set of primitive parameters into mixed-contracted Gaussian-type orbitals. We then develop …

High-Energy Η(′)Π Photoproduction And The Nature Of Exotic Waves, Glòria Montaña, Vincent Mathieu, Vanamali Shastry, Łukasz Bibrzycki, César Fernández-Ramírez, Nadine Hammoud, Robert J. Perry, Alessandro Pilloni, Arkaitz Rodas, Wyatt A. Smith, Adam P. Szczepaniak, Daniel Winney

Physics Faculty Publications

The observation of hybrid mesons in photoproduction experiments can provide essential insight into the inner workings of quantum chromodynamics in the strong coupling regime. In particular, the study of final η^(′)π states is of great interest due to the presence of the lowest lying hybrid candidate with manifestly exotic quantum numbers, the π₁ (1600). In this work, a double-vector exchange model with Reggeized ρ and ω trajectories is developed to describe the photoproduction of η^(′)π in the high-mass region. Results are presented for the differential cross sections and forward-backward asymmetries in the energy region of interest …

Probing Hard/Soft Factorization Via Beam-Spin Asymmetry In Exclusive Pion Electroproduction From The Proton, A. C. Postuma, G. M. Huber, D. J. Gaskell, N. Heinrich, T. Horn, M. Junaid, S. J. D. Kay, V. Kumar, P. Markowitz, J. Roche, R. Trotta, A. Usman, B. -G Yu, T. K. Choi, K. -J. Hong, S. Ali, R. Ambrose, D. Androic, W. Armstrong, A. Bandari, V. Berdnikov, H. Bhatt, D. Bhetuwal, D. Biswas, M. Boer, P. Bosted, E. Brash, A. Camsonne, J. -P. Chen, J. Chen, M. Chen, M. E. Christy, S. Covrig, M. M. Dalton, W. Deconinck, M. Diefenthaler, B. Duran, D. Dutta, M. Elaasar, R. Ent, H. Fenker, E. Fuchey, D. Hamilton, J. -O Hansen, F. Hauenstein, S. Jia, M. K. Jones, S. Joosten, M. L. Kabir, A. Karki, C. Keppel, E. Kinney, N. Lashley-Colthirst, W. B. Li, D. Mack, S. Malace, M. Mccaughan, Z. E. Meziani, R. Michaels, R. Montgomery, M. Muhoza, C. Muñoz Camacho, G. Niculescu, Z. Papandreou, S. Park, E. Pooser, M. Rehfuss, B. Sawatzky, G. R. Smith, H. Szumila-Vance, A. Teymurazyan, H. Voskanyan, B. Wojtsekhowski, S. A. Wood, Z. Ye, C. Yero, J. Zhang, X. Zheng

Physics Faculty Publications

Deep exclusive meson production (DEMP) reactions, such as p(e⃗ , e'π⁺)n, provide opportunities to study the three-dimensional structure of the nucleon through differential cross section and beam-and target spin asymmetry measurements. This work aims to probe the onset of the hard/soft factorization regime through the exclusive p (e⃗, e'π⁺)n reaction, as measured in the KaonLT experiment at Jefferson Lab Hall C. A 10.6 GeV Longitudinally polarized electron beam was incident on an unpolarized liquid hydrogen target, and the scattered electron and produced meson were detected in two magnetic focusing spectrometers, enabling precision cross section measurements. The cross section ratio σ …